Chained A Red Beauty story (Linked to Swan Queen)
by justlovebt
Summary: When Emma notices her Best Friends love for a certain Beauty, she goes to ask for help to someone she doesn't dare admit to trust. But little does she know about old deals, manipulated fates, unlinked hearts and unbroken chains. Will True Love prevail? 'Chained together, links of heart, Bound forever, fresh new start.'
1. Prologue: A Royal Wake Up Call

**CHAINED, prologue**

_Hi everyone! This story is set anywhere after the cursebreak and the flashbacks to TEF will be set after 'Skin Deep'. POV changes will be made clear by adding the name. The first 5 chaps will each have their own POV. Hope you enjoy!_

_My dear friend... I know it's not Aitana with a lovely little bow around her, but I wanted to give you this belated birthdaygift nonetheless. Thank you for always challenging me to try new things! I'm so happy to call you my friend! Happy belated Birthday, Piatot!_

Prologue: A royal wake up call.

_**Regina;**_

'But Regina… Can't you just…?'

'No, dear. One would think such a small 2-letter-word would be understandable even to someone with your limited vocabulary. I thought I'd made myself clear before, but obviously I have to repeat myself: 'No!''

Regina pushed herself up and to the edge of the bed. The need to hide the nakedness exposed by the way the blanket slid of her body was much less urgent than the one to hide the fear in her heart. She knew she was running, pushing the other woman away, but also knew the inevitable moment where the blonde would leave on her own accord was drawing nearer. And the sickening hollow sensation in her heart at that mere thought, coinciding with the gentle touch of fingertips grazing her shoulder, told her _that_ was not something she could bear. Simply _not_ an option. So she did what she had always done. Defended, protected. In the only way she knew how.

''Gina, I just don't get why it's so…'

'Understanding, Miss Swan, has never quite been your strong suit, has it now? I have shared my thoughts on the matter with you. They are plain and simple and non-negotiable.'

And yet, her heart wrenched. Not only because she knew this was the turning point… Even though it had by far not been the first time they had acted on their obvious physical attraction to each other, it felt like something had been different, something strong, something connecting she had, for the first time fully, allowed herself to feel. And losing that connection now, as soon as she had dared herself to feel it, was nothing less than torture. Because she saw now it had only been a farce. All of it. Because, if Emma would stop and think, would stop and _see… Who _she was actually connecting with. _What_ kind of person she was. She would pull back and run… As even her son had done.

Yet she could not do what the blonde asked of her now, no matter how much her heart wished she could. Not only because of this. Because of this moment where she knew she was, once again, losing something, someone, because of who she was. But because she had already wished many a time she could, seeing the women interact, knowing what she knew. Her fingers felt rigid and ached as they, clumsily, clasped the bra and Regina was glad for her position, hiding her fumbling hands. She was shaking, showing weakness…

_Love is weakness_

No! No this was no such thing! She could not, _would_ not allow herself to. She was Regina. Queen, _Evil_ Queen, Mayor, Mother. But not… _not _in love with the Savior…

'That's just it, isn't it, though? You _didn't! _You like, _never_ do. Jesus effing Christ, Regina, I thought we were getting somewhere. But I was _really _just kidding myself, wasn't I? So, what do you want me to do, eh? Sink on my knees and be thankful you are not kicking me out of your bed anymore after fucking you?'

The meaning of the words seemed to try to find their way into her mind, but instead the tone, the feelings behind them seeped into her heart. Loathing, disgust, anger. She felt it in the movements of the mattress, heard it in the rustling of the clothes and felt it, dripping from her heart as she caught sight of her own eyes in the mirror, making her wince.

'Yes, Regina, FUCKING. Since that is all you are fucking capable of sharing, your _body_. You know what, no matter how fucking messed up I am, I just… There is more than that, you know… And I… Just…'

Hope flared up, unbidden and painful and yet everything her thirsty soul seemed to long for. She felt it fill her up, her shriveled dark heart swelling in the warmth of it, of the hope that maybe Emma was telling her she wanted more, that maybe she would see, that maybe _the savior_ would give her the benefit of the doubt and actually see… Look for the reason behind her actions… Try to understand… See how bound she was by rules and fate and manipulation. That she, the savior, the daughter of Snow White of all people, would actually be the one to want to see through her, through the walls of snarks and pain she build around her. That, maybe, the blonde would actually push through hard enough to find the truth… And save her from it.

Wanting to be saved…

By the savior.

How utterly pathetic.

And yet, as Emma's passionate rant turned to stammers, the yearning to turn, to find those turquoise eyes which she had already drowned in on multiple occasions, became almost unbearably strong. To just give in and lean back, to entwine her trembling fingers in those blonde locks and find those soft pink lips with hers. But before the hope in her heart could outwin the fear, the resigned hoarse voice reached her. And the almost whispered words resounded louder than any of the ones the blonde had just screamed.

'They deserve more than that, Regina… And you? You owe them. You owe _her. _And you owe someone else too… You know it.'

The only sound making its way through the ringing in her ears were footsteps as she felt how her swelling heart shattered in explosion. Emma had not been hoping for more with her, she had been speaking of the issue, the matter at hand, the ones who were _truly_ important to her. A small voice in the back of her head wondered if that is that this had been about in the first place, placate the Evil Queen, sooth her as one would a wild animal. Fuck her, if you will, into submission. A small part of her wanted to scream those words to the blonde, wanted to hurt, to lash out, to send her… out, away, to never come back. But then there was that other part of her, the part feeling the truth of the words. The part that made her sit, unmoving, frozen, until she heard the soft click of the door, eliciting the hot tears that made her slumping form melt against the mattress once again. Hiding her face in the pillow, she wept, the weakness of her heart finally something she could no longer deny, for all that could have been if she had just not been so chained…

* * *

**_Once Upon A Time in The Enchanted Forest_**

'You have had your fun, played your little game. It did not work. And now, Dearie, it's time you gave her back to me.'

His eyes spat fire but years of living under her mother's regime had taught Regina, if nothing else, to hide any visible weakness. The shiver of nerves she could feel rise was quickly dissolved as she forced her lips into a small smirk, her eyes cold and calculating.

'Well, of course dear, she is all yours.'

Taking the edge of the especially forged key in between the tips of her finger and the thumb, she absentmindedly offered him the means to free the beautiful young woman currently locked up in her cellar. She had known he would come. She had set up for him to find out she had captured Belle. Measuring her words carefully she added them, at the key moment he reached out.

'For now.'

His eyes narrowed, but his long boney fingers retracted before actually meeting the metal.

'What do you know, Dearie?'

She smirked again, the information the Genie had given her priceless if she knew how to play her cards right. He had destroyed her life, her hope, her happiness on his quest to make her cast the curse, which she, as soon as she had found out, traded with Malificent. But she knew she was not free until she either cast the blasted thing, or could make him give up on the idea in the first place. The only one who could possibly know WHY Rumple was so set on casting the curse was not someone very likely to share anything with her. And although the idea of torturing that annoying Blue Mosquito going by the name of Reul Ghorm was nothing if not tempting, the dangers it brought were too much of a risk. Rumple might be called 'Dark', and Snow had deemed her worthy of the name 'Evil', but The Blue Fairy, with her soothing voice and her caring mask was the one they would never, but should actually, fear.

Pulling the key back into the palm of her hand she smiled at him. A smile she knew, which did not extend to her eyes. Because, she was sure, none ever would again. Not since Daniel, not since her last hopes had been crushed. And certainly not while Rumple was still manipulating her fate. She had to break through this and she hoped now, she held the key to that in hand.

A sudden rush of guilt, as she thought of the love that had been plucked from her hands and destroyed, towards the woman in her cellar washed over her. Was she not doing the same to this young girl now as HE had once done to her? Was she not hurting Belle in her attempt to destroy Rumple? Her only hope could be that her plan would work. That he would lose all hope of finding his own happy ending, that he would crumble and lose all temptation to cast the curse… But as much as the smidge of insecurity in his voice made her soul purr, the heavy feeling in her chest did not seem to dislodge. Although she had no reservations what so ever to destroy him the way he had her, the visual of the key and the woman it represented, used much like the pawn she felt herself to be, made her focus, for the slightest moment, on the destruction it would cause.

_There is no such thing as good and evil, darling, there is just power and those too weak to seek it._

And even though her mother had been wrong about many things, her lessons on weakness and strength had a tendency to proof themselves right time and time again.

'I know nothing you could not know yourself, Rumple, if you would simply have the _courage_ to look and see…'

He turned to her, the anger in his face about her insolence clearly visible and, with the voice of her mother still resounding in her head, almost made her recoil. Yet she could not, would not. One day, she promised herself, one day she would make it up to those she had hurt along the way, but she had to try this. She had to try and save herself. Because, she had learned the hard way, no-one else ever would.

So she turned as well and blocked him, rose above his form and turned the tables. For where he had wanted to intimidate her, she could feel him withdraw slightly, the Magic inbetween her fingers crackling in the silent castle.

'You could see if she ever really was… or ever truly will be… Yours…'

She could have hissed the words, or spat them, but the light airy tone she had chosen got the job of taunting him done so much better.

The sharp movement of her wrist made the flickering image she had obtained from the Seer visible in the large mirror. The voice eerily and slowly recanted the prophecy she had paid a heavy price for, but it were the images, the most important in linking the words to their meaning, which had cost her most.

'Chained together, links of heart,

Bound forever, fresh new start.'

It stopped her heart again, the beauty of the image. And she hated that the visions affected her so much. She had embraced her reputation. If the people wanted an Evil Queen, she would give them one, but then she could hardly choke up at the mere sight of the woman she was currently holding prisoner sharing a kiss with her true love.

A true love whom Belle, if the plan to destroy Rumple would work, would probably never meet.

…

**Hope so much you enjoyed! Reviews are Magic!**


	2. Chapter 1: You Save Some, You Lose Some

A-N: Thank you so much for your follows and favorites! Emma's POV today, hope you'll enjoy!

_**Chapter one: You save some, you lose some… **_

**_Emma:_**

'So, yeah, you look like crap!'

The beautiful brunette placed, or, closer to the truth, slammed, the hot cocoa, perfect amount of cinnamon on top, in front of her and glanced back again at the clock. Emma's heart sunk seeing her best friend hide disappointed features quickly before looking back at her.

'So, spill, trouble in paradise? Your mom find out yet, that you are doing the nasty with her worst…?'

'Shhhh Rubes! For fuck sake!'

Shrugging the woman slid into the booth, taking the seat opposite of her and glanced around.

'I dunno if you've noticed but it's kinda dead here at the moment. So talking about your girlfriend is pretty safe…'

'She's _not_ my girlfriend, geez, Rubes how many…'

The ringing of the costumer's bell made them pull away from each other and look up as if they were lovers, caught in the act. The waitress immediately jumping up to serve, her face efficiently hiding, to someone who wouldn't know her as much as Emma did, the rapid cycle of emotions crossing her beautiful features, from hope to shock to horror.

'Madame Mayor…'

With a swift move, Emma knocked over her drink, scolding as the hot chocolate found her jeans and made her skin burn. The pain, however, was much less than the one in her heart as she heard Regina's cold voice answer.

'I can see you are quite busy, Miss Lucas. I can wait. I do realize how important it is to keep oneself up to date with current events.'

They echoed and made her freeze, the nearing footsteps as she clenched her jaws and thighs together, not only, she had to admit, because of the effect of the hot liquid _on_, but also the one _between_ her legs, evoked by the sound of those heels nearing. She was like a dog and those heels were her freaking bell… Regina, all about Regina was her bell and all of her reactions only proved Pavlov right and she hated it and loved it at the same fucking time. Damn… She was screwed up.

'Sheriff… Once again nothing better to do as to act like a stumbling baboon, I see?'

The flick of Regina's wrist coincided with another ring of that bell and her friend shot her a worried look before her eyes darted to the door and froze… It was that look that had made Emma _see_, pulled and played a freaking melody on the strings of her heart as she knew the look too, just too well. To know you want what you cannot have. To know you yearn for something that will only hurt you, because it will never be yours,and yet not being able to stop wanting it. She had felt it all her life, no matter how 'bravely' she had clad herself in a red leather armour. She had always ached to have a family. To be loved, unconditionally. To be taken care of. And that look Rubes had on her face now, just… Damn it… She hated it!

Looking over her shoulder to find the one she knew she would, her eyes grazed over Regina's features. And for a moment, while her heart jumped realizing what the woman had just done as the liquid found its way from her soaked jeans back into the cup, she thought maybe, just maybe, she saw _the look_ in those chocolate brown eyes as well. But then as she blinked, all she could see was the regal mask. The wall she had walked into so many times already.

'Regina.'

'Rumple.'

Something flickered in the Mayor's eyes. Something more than the usual disdain… But before Emma could even think of what it could be a low growl caught her attention. Now finally glancing back fully, Emma saw her, the Beauty of the story, the bright eyes finding Rubes' and glimmering… And the hand, supposedly gently and caring but more possessive and retaining on the woman's shoulder.

'We would like our breakfast to go, please?'

His voice, so slick, so polite it gave Emma goosebumps and made her want to growl like her friend was, still, softly doing. Especially when his eyes met Regina's in a pointed look when he uttered the last word and the woman actually seemed to wince. But then, in the blink of an eye, everything seemed to happen at once. Belle opened her mouth to, Emma had no doubt, greet Red. (Despite her pathetic small amount of experience in the thing she was born out of, you kinda had to be blind to not see the way Belle looked at the gorgeous waitress) But before she could even utter as much as a peep, Regina's seeming wince turned into another movement. A very uncharacteristic and quite baffling movement.

While the mayor tripped (from a stand-still position? Really? What the actual fuck?) and fell against the waitress, Rumple kinda pulled back Belle, as if he wasn't sure to hide her behind his back or hide behind hers and for a moment, Emma felt like maybe Regina was going to do magic or something, maybe she was trying to do something stupid because of their conversation that morning.

But before she could even think of speaking the name of the woman she felt so much for, the backdoor opened with a bang, revealing Granny, who, in one sweeping look, seemed to take in the situation.

'Breakfast, to go…'

Slamming the paper bags on the counter, as to emphasize that last word, Granny's eyes looked like they had miniature crossbows of their own. But where Rumple seized the bags and seemed prepared to make his usual huffy exit, Belle's eyes seems focused on a point behind Emma's left shoulder. And as the blonde made to glance back, she saw it, the calendar, the big, red circle around the date.

Belle took a step forward at the moment Emma looked and saw, Regina's hands clutching Rubes upper arms. Rubes stance, now she had seen the date much more understandable, as a wolf ready to attack, to growl, to protect. A small layer, it seemed, of Magic, surrounding the 2 of them, which, as she blinked, disappeared.

'Thank you, Miss Lucas.'

Using her right hand to swat off invisible specks of dust, the left stayed in its position on Red's arm, still making Emma's jaw feel like it was either about to drop to the floor or clench in irrational jealousy.

'Of course if someone would not clean the floor with such an insipid amount of wax, one would not need to fear losing one's balance. I think, Sheriff, this hazard of public safety is something for you to look into.'

ith a smooth movement and without even as much as a glance in her direction, Regina let go of Ruby and strode towards Belle, who, worried and, if Emma saw it right through her own green orbs, slightly jealous, approached the waitress before Regina caught her upper arm.

'Come along now, dear. Let's leave them to it.'

Placing money on the counter for an order she never made, Regina seemed to earn a look from Granny Emma had never witnessed in the older woman before. In a way which did not make sense because not only had the mayor just called her granddaughter a public hazard, she was also taking the woman's true love out of the diner, out of the equation once again rapidly. Did Gran also see the lingering love between Ruby and Belle? Did she disapprove? What else would cause her to look at Regina in _gratitude_? Was it the woman thing, or the 'stealing the girlfriend of the Dark One' thing?

All hope Emma had that Regina had listened, that she had changed, that she no longer tried to fight the happy endings, of Snow and all those close to her, that she was finally starting to open to the possibility of one for herself… For them. All of that hope was shattered as the brunette almost _pushed_ the beauty back into the beast's arms. And she could swear she could see a content glimmer in his eyes as he glanced at Regina the moment she passed him, opening the door for them both to accompany her outside.

'Madame Mayor.'

He spoke the words condescending, as someone would to acknowledge a pet while he stepped outside. Belle following him, as if on autopilot, her eyes still focused on Red, who now had turned her back to the door, avoiding any eyecontact even with her.

Emma couldn't help but reach out for her friend's heaving shoulders, could see the effort with which she was trying to restrain herself. What in fuck's name had just happened? Did Rumple know he had narrowly escaped a werewolf attack? And why, in fuck's name, had Regina helped him?

'Emma!'

Grannies sharp voice made her pull back and turn around, catching sight of Regina who stood, staring, hands in the pockets of her long overcoat, at the disappearing couple with something in her stance that looked an awful lot like the thing the woman had said to never feel. As the brunette turned to walk away herself however, their eyes met and she could see it, fleeting, before Regina pulled back her shoulders and the mask slid over the gorgeous face once more.

Regret.

* * *

**_Once Upon A Time in The Enchanted Forest _**

'You are going to pay for this, Dearie…'

'But Rumple, dear, don't you know? I already did…'

And _had_ she…

Not for the information. Gold, jewels and some tears she had been willing to part with gladly to have a chance to break free from the man, the beast now opposite of her. No, her payment had come in different tears, bitter ones. In heartbreak and in pain, so strong it took her breath away. In imprisonment. In memories… For a moment they threatened to overwhelm her. The choking, suffocating memories of everything he had manipulated her to become. The roles she'd wanted, so desperately, with someone else. With someone chosen. It had been that, the last piece of information the Genie had given her, of what he had done to her, that had caused her to attack rather than defend.

She looked at the imp who had spoonfed her lie after lie and forcefed her the potion to ensure she would never be a mother. Nothing to distract her from the path he had set out for her. She allowed her hand to cover her ever-empty womb and found the strength to step forward once more.

'And now it is time for you to do exactly that! What's it going to be, Rumple?'

She held out the key once more, tantalizingly out of his reach. Although, of course, his Magic would be able to obtain it. She had drawn the conclusion when she had seen he had send Belle away. This curse, this other realm, there was someone there, a loved one, a lover perhaps? But his cowardice heart, the one not prepared to be alone, had latched onto Belle as a beggar would to a falling gold-piece. If she could just make him forget about his quest. Make him see what he could have… What he would lose…

But as he turned and she saw his eyes she almost involuntarily took a step back. Only years and years of practice and all her restraint held her in her place as those golden eyes spat fire.

'How much are you willing to pay for the identity of the one who can take your precious Belle away from you? How much are you willing to give up for your own happiness?'

'What is it you want, _Regina_?'

His eyes narrowed as he hissed the words and caught hers. The way he spoke her name edged her on, gave her the confidence to take that last step separating them and be nothing more than an inch apart from him, yet not a part of them touched.

'I want you to stop any interference, what so ever, in my life, to break any connection… I want you, Rumple, to leave me alone…'

He looked into her eyes as she saw it change, seep out. The tightness of his jaw, the tension in his eyes. She saw him see and clasped the key tighter into her hand, feeling the edge of the cold metal push, painfully, against her flesh. Before the sound reached her ears she already knew.

She had gambled.

And she had lost.

And cold washed over her as he, freely, laughed his laugh of victory.

*** TBC ***

**Reviews are Magic!**


	3. Chapter 2: Seeing Red

Thank you all so much for the responses in form of follows, favs and comments. They mean so much. YIKES, my first time writing Rubes... Bear (or wolf?) with me... Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter Two: Seeing Red**

**_Ruby;_**

`Emz, just… don't'

'Rubes, I…'

'Red, it's time to…'

'Oh Gran just… Stop! You all have got to…'

The growl came from somewhere deep inside of her, so wild, so feral, it scared even herself. She saw her grandmother take a cautious step back, still clutching onto that fucking hood she hated almost as much as her fate.

'Stop…'

It surprised her that Emma didn't withdraw, but then again, she had never seen her in wolf form. She had not been there the last time she had changed and all hell had broken loose. So yeah, the killing hadn't been her… THAT time. But all the other times still haunted her, not only Peter. Or her mother which also was pretty fucked up if you stopped to think about it, which she preferred not to. But all those people who had died, hunting the wolf… Before she had known. Because Gran had chosen to hide her underneath that damn, fucking cloak…

'Listen I am sorry about Regina, she shouldn't have said…'

Another growl rose from her throat as she thought about the words her friend was referring to. The words that had been accompanied by the weirdest kinda reassuring squeeze in her arm she didn't understand.

'She was right though, wasn't she?'

_And also the only one who knows what I become and was not, not for one moment, afraid of me just now._

'I am a fucking public safety hazard!'

Shutting her eyes all she could see were those light ones, the ones that had mesmerized her since the moment she had first seen them… Struck her to her very core.

And now, as she had entered with that… that… _man_ again… it had crawled under her skin, the feeling so much stronger than usual when she'd seen her and it had been then and only then her eyes had fallen on the calendar she always avoided looking at...

She'd inhaled, tried to control, but all that had done was make the smell that was just _her,_ intoxicate her so much her knees had buckled. And she'd had to let go of the coffeepot that permanently seemed to be attached to her freaking hand, as a reminder probably, of her basket or something.

It was instinct that made her take it all in, from her peripheral vision as her main focus remained on the woman with the gentle look, in the blue dress, who smiled her greeting and seemingly had no idea of the struggle going on inside of her. Gran's sounds in the kitchen, Emma's eyes, the one who, these days, seemed to know her best, linking it all together, the Dark One, looking at her through narrowed, cautious eyes. And then, the one she had spent half a lifetime running from. The one who had set a price on one of her best friend's head. Who was breaking her other best friend's heart. That one had simple fallen against her while her body had trembled in attempt to control the pain that came with suppression, with trying to deny the wolf what it wanted, what SHE really wanted, so desperately.

But the Queen… No… _Regina_ had looked at her with eyes full of purple Magic and something else, something soothing, something that, whatever the fuck it was, had made it possible for her to focus, for a split second, on something else but the delirious smell entering her nostrils. Had given her a short break, a moment of letting go. And as she had felt the spell, the invisible protective wall surrounding her and heard the woman's words about no one being able to hear, the rumbling growl in her chest had set itself free, shortly liberating her wolf from its selfset prison.

Ruby kept her eyes shut tightly as a shivery breath escaped her mouth. She had thought she knew this, knew how it worked. When she had felt like this, so many years ago, running and fleeing through the enchanted forest with a woman she secretly loved, she thought she had learned to control her feelings, the wolf's desires.

But this… HER… Ever since Belle first entered the dinner she had felt it, the tremble in her chest, the connection, the thing she'd off-handedly called 'click' when she'd been just Ruby and wanted to get rid of some guy. The thing neither Red or Ruby had never believed in until _her_. The day she became everything without even knowing.

So different. No matter how many times she'd cried, or _howled_ herself to sleep at night over Snow, the moment_ she_ had entered everything was different and it had not been so difficult to figure out why.

True fucking love.

Halleluya.

But _hers_…. Hers was HIM. The slime, the sleazebag she couldn't help but want to rip apart with bare teeth even when it wasn't a full moon. Not just because he was with her. Or maybe _just_ because he was with her. Because he would never deserve her goodness.

But then again, the wolf wouldn't either.

Yet everyone seemed to know. Gran's damn knowing look, the one saying 'Girl, what are you getting yourself into?'. Emma's understanding but helpless one, as she stood there, hands in pockets mumbling empty words about how it was all gonna be ok. Snow as she looked at her with pity in those hazel eyes, always from a distance these days… Even Regina, who had hid her feral outburst by pretending to need her help, which meant fucking something cause the queen never accepted any help from ANYONE. Red would know as she had tried to talk to her about the whole Emma thing.

They flashed in her vision before she quickly closed her eyes again, the red circles taunting around the numbers representing days on that stupid piece of paper, the red of the cloak that was supposed to keep the 'hazard' under control.

And suddenly she knew where the expression 'seeing red' came from. She was sick of this, so utterly sick of being who she was. Of knowing it was not something she could ever change. Of the people surrounding her, having either no faith in her at all, or too much of it. Of not feeling in control of the wolf with all these feelings raging through her…

Because wolfish nightmares haunted every night. Of _her_ knowing, of her laughing, of seeing red and attacking. It always ended the same. Once again a killer, something in her blood, in the aura around the moon as it rose high above the river she could see the wolf reflected in.

Red… She saw. Not just Ruby, not just the wolf… Just Red.

Grasping the cloak out of her grandmother's hands she didn't even stop to mumble the apology she felt in her heart. She just ran, her long legs with the velocity of the wolf following a human desire.

To disappear.

For everyone, especially herself, to stop seeing Red…

* * *

**_Once Upon A Time in The Enchanted Forest:_**

_'I want you to stop any interference, what so ever, in my life, to break any connection… I want you, Rumple, to leave me alone…'_

'Now why, dearie, in the name of Magic, would I do _that? _ When you remain the perfect solution to… Everything?'

He flicked his wrist and the mirror image she had so perfectly procured seemed to simply dissolve. His long fingers found her hand and closed it around the key, his high pitched laughter echoing against the walls.

'You are going to keep her safe for me… Here AND there. Make sure she won't meet this, won't _be with_ this socalled 'twue loww'. Oh, no dearie, you… you cost me much too much to procure.'

'And why, Rumple, why would I do that? You forget that I know now… That there is nothing left for me to win, nothing left for you to take. What do you want? My castle? My kingdom?'

_My life?_

But that was just what he seemed to want. Not to take, but to own. She saw it in his dilating pupils, saw the reflection of light, of images flashing behind her and half-turned, confused, as she had thought he had magicked the vision away…

'Take it, take it all! I refuse to play by your rules any longer… You will rue the day you have decided to come after all I held dear. Because now! It's time for me to do the same.'

But as she turned her head and found her own image. Her clothes and hairstyle odd and unfamiliar but her eyes looking more her own than she never thought they would again. And then, as the vision became clearer, she saw why…

The child in her arms could not be more than months old, but the trust in its eyes as it smiled at her mirror image melted her instantly. She stood stock still as the image merged into others in rapid succession. She drank in the pictures of her tucking in a young boy, of playing with him, hitting a white round object with some sort of stick and laughing, actually_ laughing_ when she failed to catch it. She watched herself, amazed how this person could possibly have anything to do with the one she had become. He had made her become. She had let herself become.

She couldn't help but hope, feel the echo of it quiver low in her abdomen.

And then, she saw it…

Crouched down, like would an ordinary peasant, she was adjusting some sort of odd knapsack strapped to the boy's back, as if it would detach if it was not in the exact right position. He wiggled from her grasp and for a moment her eyes looked exactly the way she had seen them in the mirror for so many years now. Empty. Tortured. Forlorn. But then he turned around and threw his tiny arms around her neck, pressing kisses all over her face as he embraced her tightly…

She saw it and a tear escaped her as she caught sight of the love in her eyes.

It swirled and merged together with the one thing she had never allowed herself to hope she could regain.

Happiness…

TBC

_Reviews are Magical!_


	4. Chapter 3: The Beauty Of It All

Thank you all so much for the support on this story! As some had guessed already, this time, from the eyes of the Beauty.

Chapter 3: The beauty of it all.

**_Belle;_**

She shivered… That was the only word for it, really, she pondered once more. For quivering was too fine, and shaking would be a rougher movement. This shiver however, had nothing to do with cold or even emotion. It was the shiver, she knew, of Magic.

Rumple's Magic was like an extension of her, she knew it as well as she knew the texture of his skin under her fingertips, his lips against hers. This was different, vibrant, filled to the brim with emotion. A gentle ribbon of hope tied around a package of… Revenge? Pain? Guilt? Regret? What had possessed the woman who had been her captor for so many years to let the object slide in her pocket? And why was she herself holding it now, clinging onto it as if it was a lifeline, as if the person giving it to her was a beloved friend?

Was it because she hoped it had been Ruby, sending her the odd gift she now held between her fingers? Ruby, who could make her laugh and feel a sort of safety she had never known she'd craved?

But why, in the name of all the books she had read, would she have used _Regina_, of all people, to give it to her?

A red glowing, radiating heat almost made her drop the shackle and it was the sound of _him_ rummaging in the shop that made her close her hand and hide it, burning, with a surprising pleasant sensation, against her palm.

Catching sight of herself in a dusty old mirror, Belle felt and saw her blush deepen as the warmth rippled through her body, evoking all-new, lip-biting sensations which made her knees give way.

But it was not possible… Ruby, although in every way Magical, did not_ possess_ the Magic running through her veins. Could not direct it in forging or enchanting an object… At least, for as far as she had found in the books she had read on the subject. And even if she could, convincing the Queen to do her bidding with the odd, out-of-character fall and delivery? Very unlike Ruby. She would have, could have, asked Emma instead, not the woman who had held her prisoner for more than 28 years. Unless it all was a trick? But then who was being tricked and why?

The nagging doubt, however, seemed to drown in the sensations raging through her as she felt the metal come alive in her hand. It made her body throb and ache in places and ways she had only, with an only slightly lighter blush than the one now reddening her cheeks, read about. It made her gasp and grasp, with her free hand, the edge of the mirror before her, making it tilt slightly as some of the dust whirled from its surface.

It was a wild sensation… It tasted and smelled like forest and, in a way, salty, like she imagined the ocean would. Her knuckles turned white as she sensed how the throbbing intensified, making her knees buckle once more and a moan escape her lips. A moan sounding an awful lot like a name…

Her eyes widened as she caught the glimpse. The sight of the person who linked it all together. Whose Magic she felt through the layer of the Queens, as if Regina had captured Ruby's essence and wrapped it in a layer of her own Magic for Belle to unpack. As if to protect it…

It just did not make any sense.

Was she once again a pawn in the war between the Evil Queen and the Dark One? Was Regina trying to make her think of… But that wasn't fair. Not to the woman who had occupied her thoughts and mind and dreams long before the odd encounter of the morning. Not to the woman who had reached out to her, the first time she had entered this new world alone. The woman she could swear she could see behind the dust in that mirror.

Wiping some of the grayness off, creating a shiny, curved road she should be able to see herself in, her heart picked up its pace at the vision it created. She could feel the movements of the woman in the red cloak, could sense the tension in her own muscles, could taste the fear in her own mouth. The metal burned once more in her hand as the woman turned and seemed to look straight into her eyes. Belle lost her balance at the rush of something she wasn't quite sure of. Magic? Desire? It raged however, through her veins, mixed with despair and fear. Mixed with a sadness, making her heart heavy. Mixed with a loneliness she recognized…

A loneliness only disappearing when she was with…

It was as if something clicked as she slid to the floor. The connection she should have made so long ago. The moment her eyes had met Ruby's for the first time. The pacing of her heart as she thought of the woman she called her best friend. The dreams she woke from, panting, lips parted, entangled in sheets. For someone who had read so many books about the subject she had to face she had been ignorant…

So… SO ignorant!

The sound of voices from the shop drifted to her, reinforcing her thoughts. Enlightening her path as a lightning bolt would. It struck and hurt, the words she heard and yet, they liberated her as the tears found their way down her cheeks, onto the fist she held clutched against her chest.

Allowing her back to lean against the mirror she gasped at the sight of the object she held in her hand, glowing in a hue of Magic, burning in a rush of emotion. Where the shackle had been singular as she had closed her fingers around it, another one now caught the light, shining and linked, unbreakable, to the other.

Connected.

Forever.

Glancing back at the mirror, Belle felt her breathing halt as she recognized the background, dull and brownish to her, but beautiful in its contrast against the red of the cloak of the woman who seemed lost.

Closing her fingers around the metal in her hand, Belle felt a smile tug the corners of her mouth as she, with a deep breath, pushed herself up. She only stopped to glance back once more, her finger moving through the dust in a swift and graceful movement, before she took her first step.

Away…

Towards…

The linked metal in her hand appeared to ease, to sink, gently into her palm, seemingly content with the direction of her steps. The direction of her heart.

And as the door clicked shut behind her and she blinked against the brightness of the light, Belle, for the shortest of seconds, felt lost as she had the first time she had closed it. And yet she could so nothing else than smile.

For, this time, she knew_ exactly_ where to go.

To find herself again.

* * *

**_Once Upon A Time in The Enchanted Forest:_**

'And there you thought I got it all…'

His sing-song voice was taunting as he, showing much more agility than he should possess, jumped up at her side.

'You know, dearie. The beauty of it all is that _you_ remain the answer to everything.'

She stood stock still, the image in the mirror dissolving, leaving nothing but the reflection of someone worthy of the title Snow had given her. The Evil Queen. And yet, she felt herself crumble. The visions of what she craved most, right before her eyes. But still impossible to grasp, leaving her even more empty and cold than she already had been. She saw the mask she had, only moments before, kept in place without problem, waver in the reflection. The deep dark eyes she always avoided to look into, turned not into those of the regal woman of power she had been raised to be, but into the ones of the girl who had believed, more than anything, in _love_...

'Well, dearie… I can make it all come together… OR… I can make it all fall apart… What's the deal you want to strike?'

'I…'

'All you have to do is follow the path you were set out to follow, Dearie. For you see, it also leads to _your_ happiness…'

She tried to tear her gaze away from the mirror. From the turmoil, so clearly visible in her eyes it physically hurt her to see it. It was as if she had just let her heart slide back into her chest, after a time of keeping it outside of her body, the intensity of feelings overwhelming and so utterly painful it made her want to rip out the organ once more and toss it to the side.

Yet it was the memory of her mother's hollow eyes that prevented her to do so and the hand, hovering before her chest, clutched onto the soft material of her dress, her knuckles whitening in frustration.

'Or you can chose any other path, dearie… Of course, it _is_ all upto you in the end…'

The image flashed, so quickly she would have missed it had she not been so focused on the mirror. But it pulled her in to roughly, so strongly, she could smell the odd metallic scent, could feel the glass under her feet, hear it make its characteristic breaking sound. The sound she associated with the silence of the night, when all she could listen to was the sound of her own heart, trying to beat as if it was whole. Trying to act as if it wasn't all ragged edged and shattered. And then, she saw him, the boy who had just with his image, already stolen that unworthy, darkened, ragged heart.

He was there, pale. Laying, motionless, on the dirt. The glass surrounding him. She reached, to nudge, to wake, but knew her form had no influence what so ever on the visions of the mirror, no matter how close she felt to them. She saw Rumple's form, his skin no longer filled with golden flecks, a cane helping him walk… But the malice in his eyes shone as he waved his hand, causing a large boulder to free itself from the ragged walls and roll in the direction of the child.

'Henry!'

The voice was panicked and filled to the brim with the emotion she heard in her own as she cried out the only word she could think of.

'No!'

But he snapped his fingers just as Regina felt someone rush passed her in the direction of the boy and the last image she could see, before it all disappeared into blackness, was a rush of yellow hair combined with bright red as she heard the rumbling of the stones, coming down.

'What did you do!?'

She lunged at him, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest as if aching to find its way out.

'The question, Dearie, is not what I did, but what I _will_ do…'

'I will… YOU will… '

'Oh no, don't even think about it… Once I'm satisfied with you we will see about your reward now, won't we?'

He smiled at her pensively, his lips curling up eerily as he did so, tapping his fingers together.

'Oh and Dearie? I know how your mind works… Staying out of his life will not help him or you. Fate has its way of finding us. His is you… You do not wish to deny him happiness now, do you?'

As she felt the last of her options slip away from her at his words, the key found its way to the floor, the sound of metal meeting wood echoing through the empty room. He laughed again as he picked it up and pushed it back into her palm, emphasizing, with his words, the lack of options laid out for her...

'You want your life back, you say? Choices? Well the world is full of them… Happiness or misery. Power or weakness. Allow me to let you in on a little secret, Dearie… They all… _It _all connects. And you, Regina, hold the key to your own destiny…'

His mocking laugh rang through her ears long after he had disappeared and she had sunk to the ground, clutching the piece of metal, sealing her fate.

The key to her very own prison.

TBC


	5. Chapter 4: Dark Senses

A-N: This chapter contains M-rated material, *wink. Do not read the second part of this chapter if not interested... (Or skip the first if too interested, *wink again)

Chapter 4: Dark senses.

**_Rumplestiltskin:_**

'Regina, dear, always a pleasure.'

'It's time, Rumple.'

He smirked as he saw her tensed features and for a moment thought he would actually feel sorry for the sorrow-eyes brunette.

'For someone who has frozen just that for 28 years, you seem to be pretty certain of your assessment, dearie. Perhaps it is time you bought a watch. I have several models, we just might be able to find one to your liking.'

'Enough…'

Hoarse but determined her voice carried, rustled through the shop, making the large cuckoo's clock he had started to adjust on the wall stop its ticking.

He turned to her and chuckled, his step lighter as he felt himself slide back in his role of the 'Dark One' always so easily when he was around her. She was his greatest achievement. The way he had, slowly but surely, molded her to become what he had needed her to be. His pride had roared when he had seen her protective actions of that morning and he had known he had utterly succeeded. Having the most powerful witch of the century doing his bidding made his chest expand and any physical discomfort minor. She was his. And he knew it.

'Be careful how speak to me, dear… Who knows what may happen if I chose to…'

'They are back, Rumple… The Happy Endings. They are back. You have to face…'

He knew, saw in her eyes what she meant to say. That she had come to plead. For him to give up. The silly little girl. Had she not learned anything? Did she not know _who_ she was dealing with? Annoyance mixed with condescending pity found its way out to his demeanor as he hissed the words in her direction.

'I don't have to face anything! She is mine, you have and will continue to make sure of that or suffer the consequences! That, and nothing else, is the deal we struck, Dearie.'

'Then, I am here to strike a new one…'

His chuckle was low and free, mocking her, he knew, with each and every one of the small amused sounds exiting his mouth.

'But, Dearie, can't you see? There is nothing left you have, that I could possibly want.'

He turned his back on her, as if she bored him. Which, in a way, she did. Her love for her son, and if he saw clearly, the woman who had given birth to him, making her weak and in a way so easy to control. It had been much more of a challenge to ply the naïve innocent Magic-hating girl into a revenge searching Evil Queen, who would cast a horrific curse. Ah well… Those had been the days…

He was surprised to hear her footsteps, quite certain she had already left, given up. But as he heard the metal find the wood, he turned.

'This time, Rumple, I would not be so sure of that, if I were you…'

Her voice was low, like thunder rumbling at a distance, it threat clear and imminent. And the flash brightened his field of vision as he caught sight of the item she had placed on the counter.

And, finding the dark brown eyes before him. He saw.

He saw it unravel in their black center and his own eyes widened.

'What have you done?'

And as she simply glanced down at the dark metal, glittering against the wood, a small smile tucking at the corners of her mouth, he knew.

That he may, finally, have lost.

…

_Meanwhile across town:_

**_Belle:_**

The clock chimed the hour as the door squeaked open. And as the stifled air made its way out, Belle couldn't help but breathe in the smell of the books. A smell, she had thought, she loved more than anything. But something else invading her nostrils, as she pushed herself through the small opening into the darkness, was proving her terribly wrong.

Her senses had heightened in a way she had only read about and it had not taken her long to figure out this had something to do with the vibrant Magic captured and vibrant in the metal she still held tight in her hand. She could feel it, wildly, rush through her veins, the heat of it almost scalding, yet not in an unpleasant way. She could sense it, guide her, pull her through the darkness, although she seemed to have no trouble making out shapes.

She could feel _her _in the sensation, feel the Magic, the wolf, merge with her blood. It found and brought alive places of her body she had never considered before. It made her pant and ache and yearn. It made her want to growl and bite, yet not in a destroying, blood-drawing way. It made her want to touch and please.

But most of all, it made her want to find.

To find and merge as the links she was clinging onto…

**_Ruby:_**

She had roared the lonely roar of silence as she had covered the mirror she had seen the glimpse in. The image of _her_ making her crumble and want to whine like a pathetic little puppy instead of howl like the wolf she was supposed to become now. Hot tears had turned cold on her cheeks as she sat, the redness of the cloak flowing around her. And yet she refused to use the damn thing to wipe them away with. Damn it, she would refuse to breathe now, if she could. But the wolf was fighting its battle, she could feel it rage inside, the feelings so strong and her instinct telling her to act on them. Her senses dazzling and confusing her, her mind playing tricks on her as the she inhaled the smell and had to clench her jaws together in order not to growl, clutch her hands into fabric-filled fists in order not to touch and fight the urge to find some release of this fire she knew would never be extinguished, bite her lip not to utter the moan born out of this throbbing desire that would never be sated.

She had tried. As Red. As Ruby even, not knowing where her monthly 'urges' had come from and thinking it had something to do with her cycle… Yeah, hell. It had something to do with a cycle alright. But she hated this. Hated to be this weak. Hated, even, the images forcing itself up on her as she closed her eyes, the lips, the fingers, touching, exploring, finding… God fuck, _finding_…

Her hand, just for a moment, lost its grip on the red, as her lips did in the moan they'd held captive.

But it felt like such a betrayal, to the trust in those light, innocent eyes, to the friendship they had built. To think, this way, about her, crave to feel, at least, her own fingers stroking, touching, entering, rubbing… Anything that would make the tension explode, if only for that fucking second, in the contractions her body was aching for so much.

But she knew she wouldn't be able to control the images, as the imagined scent already grew stronger. She knew, that at least, this betrayal would not be the ultimate one… The one of her nightmares. The one where she was her own nightmare. She crawled back into the corner, afraid of her own feelings and yet relishing the sensation of the books against her back. Because she associated them with _her, _with the woman now, with the wolf running through her veins, dazzling her mind and senses_ just_ that impossible bit more than usual.

As her lip escaped the grasp of her teeth, a deep, roaring moan rumbled through her abdomen and her hand slid, carefully, still sort of hesitant, towards it. The silky fabric of the cloak that could protect her from changing, yet not from these heightened, tormented sensations, grazed the skin of her forearm and she shivered in the stifled air, feeling it instead as a lover's touch.

'Belle…'

The whisper echoed through the library. Louder than the chime of its tower which had only moments before scared the shit out of her. The sound of the name however, hoarse and raw and filled with desire, made her growl and tremble.

'Belle…'

Thanking who ever the fuck would listen that her waitress outfit had a skirt, Ruby gave into her body's begging. Spreading her legs she pressed her nails against her inner thigh and scratched, slowly, upto her center, biting her lip once more as the images overwhelmed her.

_Soft lips pecked at the nape of her neck, so gently it felt like a butterfly touch and yet it was stronger than anything she had ever felt. Hands slid from behind, spreading fingers over her ribs until curling up, covering the shape of her breasts, heaving in her struggle to get enough air. It rippled through her, almost ripped her apart, the scream of the name always on the tip of her tongue as teeth sunk into her shoulder._

_'Belle!'_

'Belle!'

It was a sob, fighting its way out as well as a tear, when the fingers of her left hand found the nipple, aching, straining against the fabric. Because she knew it was only in her mind, but even in a fantasy, Belle was more real to her than any of the people she had shared her body with. Even in her mind, this was not just about the pleasing of her body, sating the wolf.

_Turning her head, laying the back of it against Belle's shoulder, she was surprised of the strength the other woman showed. How could she hold her up, hold up the power of the wolf? Why did the light eyes not look at her in fear but in a shining, wanting confidence? In the emotion she did not dare to hope for, but felt, so so strongly, course to her veins for the other woman? The wolf howled as Belle's fingers expertly stroked her nipple, the other hand slowly making its way to her abdomen, tormenting and slowly following the path to bucking hips. And then, when Belle leant in and in a swift, practiced movement, claimed lips as her prize, everything exploded._

'Oh…'

She sucked in her lower lip, wishing she could taste Belle's on it, catch the scent that hovered around her and bottle it… Drink it in the unbearable thirst overpowering her. Sliding her hand, flat, over the soaked fabric of her underwear, she shivered and felt her hips move, involuntarily, forward to the touch. She knew what she needed to at least try to control this overwhelming desire and the last of her hesitance ended as she pressed her palm against herself, feeling her body beg for release.

She could not give her heart what it ached for, what it needed so desperately. But this, this she could do. This, what her body was screaming for, she could, sort of, control.

Growling, she pushed aside the wet silk to find the slickness she knew would be hiding behind it, moaning in pleasure as the tip of her finger slid inside the all-too-ready entrance.

**_Belle:_**

She halted and felt her lips part as the sound reached her at the same time the visual did. Her heart pounded so loudly she thought the other woman would or at the very least _should_ be able to hear it exit her chest and find its way in her direction. Where she now knew, finally knew, it belonged. She watched, frozen yet heated, as the beautiful woman parted her legs, seemingly as to…

Could it? Really?

She blushed fiercely as she heard her name again, intent now clear in wild but, in a way also, sad eyes. And as they closed, in hands… In fingernails, scraping skin. In breathtaking touches of urge and need. In a voice, hoarse and raw, repeating time and time her name. She wanted to move, but found herself instead rooted to the spot, hidden in shadows as her free hand found the wood of a bookshelf to keep her steady. She quivered, this time the movement was fine enough to call it that, a soft vibration in need, in liquid desire as she watched Ruby press her hand against the place she, herself, felt burn. The metal in her hand was scolding hot, but never in a million years, would she dream of letting go. All she could do, to not fall, was hold on.

And then, as she heard her name escape red lips once more, she smiled at the irony of her own thought. Because she had already fallen… And by no means was that anything she regretted.

The gorgeous woman clad in red shook, in the want Belle no longer wished to contain. It enveloped her, absorbed her whole as she saw fingers move past fabric and against… inside…

She lost all train of conscious thought as she, mesmerized, watched the rhythmic movement. The slow, yet steady pace mirroring the pounding she felt between her legs. Her hand slid off the wood and clasped the fabric of her dress before, without thinking, out of sheer and utter need, it found its way down to apply a much desired pressure. The inside of her skirt felt cool against her inner thighs and the silent gasp freeing itself from her lips coincided with the rustle of cloth, making her look up.

A mirror, not unlike the one she had seen only moments before in a basement, was revealed as the cotton sheet, effectively hiding it, slithered of its surface. It showed her the woman from a different angel, the steady circular movement of fingers now increasing in speed as soft moans started to escape chapped lips, the way the long slender one of the other slowly, so tantalizingly slow, pushed its way inside and remained there, all in double focus.

But the mirror showed more…

Belle almost screamed out as she saw it, not sure if it was due to the pleasure ripping her apart as she, in increasing pace, rubbed her center through the fabric of her dress, or due to the shock the vision provided.

For suddenly, in the mirror image, the pleasing fingers, 2 of one hand in a rapid rhythmic massage pressed against the raw bundle of nerves and 2 of the other now continuing a slow but determined stroke of pounding, wet walls… Suddenly those fingers became hers…

As she saw the image of herself lean over the beautiful woman, who now, again, breathe out her name in a way that made Belle's heart stop, she felt the wetness between her legs surge with impossible intensity. Biting down her own moan she listen to the quiet begging becoming more frantic as the movement of fingers, imaged as well as real, did so too.

'Belle, yes. Oh please yes, don't stop, don't… Fuck, just please don't stop… I… Oh Belle…' 

**_Ruby:_**

'Belle, yes. Oh please yes, don't stop, don't… Fuck, just please don't stop… I… Oh Belle…'

_Never in her life had it felt more real to her. She could feel the grazes, sense the touches, feel the pants of breath against her shoulder as Belle, tormenting, slow, was pushing 2 fingers inside of her and arced them up. She muttered, begged, pleaded for the outburst she knew would follow the fucking amazing tension that was building up in her muscles. Belle's teeth gently found her nipple as the fingers worked their magic, faster as faster pumping in and out as the ones of her other hand had found her clit and rubbed it in the same, perfect pace._

She felt her body arc up as her walls clasped around her fingers, the desire reaching the peak she so desperately needed to find. Her breath stopped and she moaned and growled as her body held the delicious sensation for several long seconds. Walls tight, frozen in their throb, the nub under her fingers swollen and tight in its beg for release.

And then, it all broke free. And while she drowned in the ebb and flow, in the waves of pleasure her body rode, something else did as well.

And the wolf howled, climax merging with the pain, of its lonely, aching heart.

TBC


	6. Chapter 5: Chained

A chapter written from many different perspectives... Hope you'll enjoy!

Chapter 5: Chained

**_Belle:_**

It slipped and the moments her fingers lost contact, her rapidly pounding heart faltered. The howl, heartbreaking in its emotion-filled pain, had made her want to reach and now, instinctively as the metal dropped, she took a step forward into the pale light of the full moon, making its way in through the stained glass of the high windows.

Metal found the floor in a clinking sound and the howl abruptly stopped as Ruby, eyes feral and glistering in the darkness, looked up. Pupils widening and dilating, narrowing in on source of sound before finding her and widening in shock.

'Belle!'

So much different now, her name escaped from those lips. Filled with an angst-ridden pain, with a mortified fear.

'Ruby, I…'

'No!'

She had taken a step forward, but the brunette scrambled up and held out a hand to her, as to keep her at a distance as the next words clearly confirmed.

'Don't come near me…'

The hesitance she felt was only of the shortest of moments. Because then, she did as she always had. She saw. Saw beyond the layer of varnish, beyond the mask of Darkness, or the growling fire, raging around the neck of a frightening beast. She looked and saw the fear, lingering behind the feral gestures. Saw the yearning in the fierce eyes. She saw the reason behind it.

'Don't!'

'Ruby…'

Soothing… Knowing… _Loving_ was the sound of her voice which made its way to the woman before her. It was almost as if she could see it, in a light blue hue merging with the deepest ruby-red, float and reach the struggling woman. But when she blinked it already had disappeared and all she could see was emotion swirl in the dark eyes before her while she took another step.

'Ruby…'

Breathless this time. Filled with an edge of the want and desire she still felt pounding through her body, but enveloped with a carefully shown affection, a warmth, a tenderness. The kind that made her want to reach out and make the tips of her fingers graze over the soft skin of those cheekbones. To kiss away the panic she could see building in those eyes. To hold and protect the other woman and show her she was not afraid.

The wooden floor creaked under her as she took another tentative step and her foot aligned with the links she had dropped. In instinct she bent her knee to retrieve the objects, but the moment her fingertip met the metal, it seemed to come alive.

It rose, as, mesmerized, so did she. Lingered in the air, signaling her to follow in a direction she needed no urging to take. For now, knowing what she knew, feeling the tug of her heart towards the woman who owned it, she could let go of everything in the past and simply step.

Step towards her destiny.

'Ruby'

**_Ruby: _**

This could not fucking be happening…

She was dreaming, or the wolf had finally managed to drive her insane. Whatever it was. This. Could. Not. Be. Happening.

The scent of her desire still hovered around her, enticingly mixing with the one she had imagined to be Belle's. Or maybe not so much imagined as… What?

She tried to shake her head, to clear her thoughts. To, somehow, try to wrap her head around what was going on. But she couldn't get her eyes to break away from those light ones, shining brighter than a thousand stars. She heard herself beg the woman to stop, the spines of the books met hers as she backed away, scared of the raging fierceness of the emotions running through her. She felt even the wolf struggle with conflicting urges, a defensive stance versus an Kodak-moment resembling act which would make her look more like a puppydog than Pongo ever had. She could still smell her own arousal, feel the power of her orgasm weaken her legs, the way it made her head spin. She tried to take it all in, the mirror image moving in her peripheral vision, showing a true loves kiss she never had even allowed herself to hope for. Fantasies, ok. Actual hope? Never…

But now…

Now Belle was here, looking at her with fire and tenderness and all kinds of _feelings_ in those eyes and she just felt it rage up inside of her. The thing she told herself she never should feel anymore. The thing that left her the moment she had found Peter's blood on her hands.

'Ruby…'

But that was Red…

And Red and the Wolf had been so separate. Even when she had accepted and embraced the wolf, it still they still had felt as 2 different beings trapped in one. But with Ruby… With Ruby she felt like she had merged everything together. Red, the wolf and the waitress, all borders blurred, just melting into one.

And she only realized that now, because she saw something terrifying in those beautiful eyes before her, lighting up in a hue of what had to be Magic, but still paled in comparison to the way those eyes shone. Something in there she couldn't really grasp but that made her shiver.

Because Belle didn't see Red, or the wolf.

She saw…

'Ruby…'

**_ Belle:_**

She sensed it. Smelled it. It was rather odd, really, if she thought about it. She had spend 28 years, being locked up in a room without any of it surrounding her. Which was longer than she had in the cellar where it had been known to linger, or in the castle she had cleaned, where it had ran freely. And yet she recognized it instantly.

Magic.

A strong, feral pull of it she could not and did not want to, fight. And she knew what it was. The books had tried, some of the better ones had come close, but this, the bookish woman had to admit, was something no pen would ever be able to describe.

The extend of it, the intensity of it. The purity of it, the raw sensuality of it. It was like the perfect balance of all these different, and sometimes opposite emotions and Belle found it marvelous and quite incredible that someone had managed to try and capture all of it in that word…

Love.

Reaching out to Ruby's shoulder, Belle saw how the woman's fear grew in the way the bodypart pulled back from her, making her hand hover in the air.

'Please Belle… please. I don't want to hurt you.'

She smiled, she couldn't help it, it pulled the corners of her lips at the same time a tear found its way from her heart to her cheek. Because she saw, what Ruby herself could not.

'You won't.'

'You don't know that…'

'You _won't.'_

Adamant her eyes found Ruby's and the other woman's gasp almost sounded like a sob.

'How can you be so sure?'

Their eyes locked, the darkness around them forgotten or chased away by the magical light surrounding them. But that didn't matter. None of it mattered. The only thing that did, was the answer Belle felt in her heart. The answer that would change it all.

She hoped…

'Because I see you, because I know you. Because… Because I love you.'

Her hand found its destiny, _her_ destiny, at the moment the last words freed themselves from her lips and the magic that surrounded them spread, erupted in an explosion of light, merging blue with red into a soft shade of purple as the linked metal quickly began to multiply.

Before she could even do as much as breath, she felt the chained links find her skin, caressing it almost as her hand found Ruby's.

'Belle, I…'

'I love you…'

She repeated the words as the chain found its way around her, making what looked like a circle and pushing, _or was it pulling?_ her closer to Ruby. Red lips beckoned as they parted in surprise, or perhaps in another uttering of the name she now loved simply because it was spoken by the woman tied against her and Belle did the only thing that made any sense at all.

She leaned in and pressed her lips against the red ones, sealing and confirming the words she had just spoken as a rush of the strongest Magic in any realm washed over them.

And as true love's kiss was shared, neither of them was aware that the two ending links of the chain found each other and merged, effectively creating an unbreakable bond.

…

**_Emma:_**

'What the actual fuck has gotten his boxers in a twist?'

She muttered the words as she parked the cruiser and cringed at the sound of the weird sentence, or probably more at the visual they created, as she got out of the car and followed the creepy shop owner. He was moving fast, but his limp seemed to have grown a lot more visible since the last time she'd seen him, which was, now she thought of it, only that morning and she had no trouble, what so ever, to keep up with him. Something about him was way off, though. Fear oozed from every movement, urge, rush and something close to panic.

What the actual fuck_ was _going on?

She almost called out to him when she heard the footsteps, her response to them once again Pavlovian, telling her instantly the identity of the owner of those feet…

'I knew you would come, Rumple. The offer still stands. A new deal can...'

'You are going to pay for this! I am not striking any deals with you, you evil, evil witch!'

Regina laughed as she stepped out of the shadow of the wall, the clock tower rising high above her. And as the sound of the laugh, deep and dark, washed over Emma, for the first time the blonde could see how anyone could call the brunette 'Evil'. They'd had their fair amount of clashes since they'd met. And Emma would be the first to admit Regina could be all kinds of intimidating, but this laugh brought chills to her bones and for a moment she couldn't move.

'I am only what you made of me, you treacherous, little imp.'

Regina smiled after she had breathed out the words, or _grimaced_ more like. And white teeth blinked in the sunlight as the once Queen stepped aside to reveal the library's door.

'By all means, Rumple. Don't let me stop you. Your quest seems… utterly important to you.'

The condescending tone Emma knew so well from when she'd met Madam Mayor was just… fucking intensified, multiplied by a thousand. The cold, cold voice was not something she had ever heard, as if the woman using it had no emotions of her own, except maybe contempt.

Was this who Regina really was? Had she really been fooling herself so fucking much, seeing something else, seeing Regina and not Madam Mayor and sure as hell no 'Evil Queen'? Had she just been blinded by her lov…

Whoaaaaaa…

_Lust_ for the brunette? Had she blinded herself into hoping, maybe, it could work, 2 parents for Henry? A life with, you know…

Oh who the hell was she kidding!? She _had_ fallen in love with the mother of her son! She had fallen so fucking deep and hard it embarrassed her. She had allowed herself to hope again. To want… To want something she had given up on so early in life. To find a family. And now, here, while the sun was finding its way down the sky and its beams found the woman she wanted to create that family with, fear overwhelmed her.

Because what if she had seen it all wrong. And all that Regina had done was sleep with her to get back at Snow? To, perhaps, have a way to manipulate her when it came to Henry? To, simply, scratch an itch? What if all they'd had, every moment they had shared, the heated passion but also the softening of those brown eyes. The calling of her name, her first name not the joke, referring to the first family she had stayed with, that was her last, not only in ecstasy, in climax, but also before sharing of softer kisses. Before unspoken words seemed to be said by their eyes. What if it all was nothing more than her own fucking imagination?

And while Rumple made his way past the woman who was so obviously enjoying whatever caused him to panic, Emma tried to control her own by focusing on that the fuck was going on…

At least it was better than to focus on that the fuck she was doing with her heart.

**_Rumple:_**

He scolded his failing body as he tried to use the cane to get ahead faster. He would have used Magic to get where he wanted to go, had he not already long ago protected the clock tower from any Magical visitors, including himself. It had been a price willingly paid for the protection it brought to the object he had hidden there. He thought. But he had had to dismiss the spell now, in order to see…

And what the Dark One had seen had not pleased him, not one bit.

He had suspected since the first moment of interaction between the women, but in a way, Regina had always been right about him. He was a coward. He had always been afraid to see… To know for certain who was the person who could take his precious Belle away from him. To know for certain, or for uncertain, knowing the utter vagueness of prophecies, what destiny held for him. If he did not know, or see, he could always pretend that perhaps it would not come true.

But the moment he had rushed to the back of his shop after the unsettling conversation with Regina and had found the one possession he valued above all others missing, he knew he'd have to…

He did not even need the words, written in the mirror's dust to conduct what had happened. They had taunted him however, the visions slowly appearing in the reflection they exposed.

"I know."

She knew. And thinking back about words spoken between him and Regina, words _she _must have had overheard, he knew her clever mind had linked together most of it much faster than another ever could. Not only because she was well-read, sensitive and intelligent, but because she had lived it and… was aware of his weaknesses more than any other. It was a terrifying thought that the only person who could stand him would actually disappear. Out of his life. The familiar, swirling feeling of helplessness in the pit of his stomach intensified. As it had with Milah, as it had with Bae.

But for Milah, he had not picked up the sword. And he had let go of Bae's hand.

This time, he would fight.

He grimaced and could feel his own Magic build up in the tips of his finger as he smelled, sensed the familiar tingling and followed it.

Ready to fight for what was his.

He heard the footsteps behind him follow and had not expected any less. He took in the sounds of the door, the second pair of footsteps and smiled as he _saw_ despite the fact she was nowhere near his line of vision, who had just entered, knowing he would someway be able to use the blonde's presence to his advantage.

Or rather use Regina's feelings for the savior to his advantage. He'd giggle at the irony had the situation not been so dire. Snow White's daughter saving the Evil Queen by the means of twue lowe… And the weakness that it brought to the woman who was now clearly seeking out his demise. Making the act of saving actually one of destruction.

His small smile however froze as he saw it, the hue of Magic and what it enlightened. The rush of it as it was shared, time and time again.

True love's kiss.

His Belle…

With that… That… MONSTER.

**_Regina: _**

She closed her eyes and halted, for the shortest moment, controlling her shivering hands. And all she saw, as she did every time the selfchosen darkness of shut eyes engulfed her, was the image once conjured… The one of her son, lifeless and the blonde rush, making its way to him and to her certain death. Her heart winced as she opened her eyes, jaw tight, her fingers curling into her palms to create a fist.

She had made sure he was safe. She had to focus on that. No matter how much hatred there was lingering between them, she knew the woman she had asked, told, begged to protect her son would do so with her very last breath. Henry was safe. But the same could not be said for Emma.

She had tried to call. Had stood with her phone in her trembling hand for the longest time, just staring at the name she had just recently changed, for Henry's sake she had told herself, to the 4 letter variant that was starting to associate with another word with an equal amount of letters. And she'd known, right then, whispering the name ever so softly, she couldn't. She could not give herself away now. Not now that she was going face to face with her destiny. With unknown result.

A tear escaped her and lingered down her cheek as she thought of the hurried goodbye she had shared with her son, the embrace, the way he had clung to her as he had not done for such a long time. As if he knew what she had been planning to do. As if he was aware of the dangers it held…

Death. Or a fate worse than it.

But then again, hadn't hers always been?

The urge to break free for the chains binding her had left her long ago. She wasn't sure if she could pinpoint the exact moment, although the first heart she crushed, she knew, had everything to do with her giving in to the stream, and letting it drag her to the sea Rumple had picked for her. She had tried to fight it, swim against it, the most forceful attempt perhaps her taking Belle. But that had only worked in her disadvantage and at a certain point she had simply let the stream take over. Let herself flow with it and at times even swim along, progressing faster. She had chosen to remain chained.

And now, for the first time in more than 28 years, maybe even for the first time ever, she felt the strong yearning, the urge, the longing in her abdomen to break free. Because there was something, hope, hope of a chance she didn't dare to believe in that yet made all the difference. Because now, there was something to fight for. Something… Someone, the chance of a life, worth fighting for. And the simple glimpse of that made the weight of the chain unbearable.

If she could finally be free, maybe she would have that chance.

She closed her eyes and saw the waving of blonde hair once again before she opened them, the shaking of her hands stilling as she moved, determined, forward.

Because a chance was so much more than she had ever had. And her heart pounded the name of the woman who personified everything that made the risk worth it as she stepped forward into the hue of the Magic created by true love.

_"Em-ma Em-ma Em-ma"_

**Emma:**

She almost tripped as she sneakily made her way through the heavy, squeaky door. Geez, for someone who had done this sorta shit for a living since, erm, actually like_ forever_, she was really bad at it today!

Really, some savior! She _just_ managed to save herself. That was what it had been like all her life, the reason she had given up her son, the reason she had chosen a lonely life.

But it was not because she was the savior that she was following the Queen and the Dark One into an abandoned building. It was not even because she was the sheriff that she followed the shop owner and the mayor. If she looked deep down inside, something she actually preferred not to do, she knew it was because of _her. _

Because only Regina could mess up her head so bad, that for a moment she forgot she was supposed to be looking for her best friend. And the ache in her heart to see the ruthless queen she had heard talk about in those dark eyes she had thought to have seen melt… Oh for fuck sake. What was she, a sap? Regina, THIS Regina, certainly did not need saving. If anyone did, it was the shaking, panicking Mr Gold.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw the regal form and held her breathe as she suddenly saw the shoulders slump slightly. She pulled back into the shadows of the dark and watched how Regina glanced at her hands before clenching them into fists. A strong pull in her chest made her eyes widen and her heart jumped and dropped at the same moment. Hope and despair, pain and joy, fear and determination all swirled and clicked, as opposite ends of a magnet, merging into one giant knot of emotions weighing heavy on her stomach.

She felt the name rise up to her lips and was about to let it slip from her lips as her hand lead a life of its own, it seemed, and reached out. From cold to pained, these sides of Regina were ones she had never been allowed to see and in the strangest way she wasn't sure which one scared her more. But the shoulders she was reaching for were pulled back already and the eyes, glimmering in the dark, turned cold once more as Regina took a step forward towards what seemed like a Magical light.

Looking at the bodypart that had betrayed her, hoping once more that she, Emma Swan, was needed or wanted, she shoved it quickly in the pocket of her jeans before following.

Although she wasn't sure if she was following a lead, as she was trying to tell herself, or simply, and oh so very sappy, her heart.


End file.
